Merkel offers some lessons in political timing

Having lived and worked in Alaska recently as a journalist, I'm often asked about former governor and now media star Sarah Palin.

As a former mayor and candidate for lieutenant governor, Palin was no stranger to Alaskans when she ran for governor in 2006. But she was vastly underestimated by the pundits, who saw her as a gadfly attacking the entrenched establishment of her own Republican Party. The media didn't get it either: The Anchorage Daily News, the state's biggest newspaper by far, had a wealth of archived photos of former governor Tony Knowles, her main opponent, but they had covered Palin so little that the election eve four-page special about her included pictures almost entirely from one campaign event.

But Palin's timing was perfect: Alaskans were fed up with corruption in the state, and the personable, straight-talking candidate ousted both the tainted incumbent Republican governor and state party chief. She then won the general election handily.